A day after BJP’s Bengal observer Kailash Vijaywargiya visited President Ram Nath Kovind following the death of BJP MLA Debendranath Roy in Uttar Dinajpur district, Trinamool Congress(TMC) leader Derek Obrien too visited the President. The TMC leader submitted a letter from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, while apprising the President of the proper investigation being conducted by the West Bengal CID. Derek also ruled out the possibility of a political case as is being projected by BJP.
The letter to the President mentions that it is clear, that distorted facts are allegedly being presented by the saffron party and refers to the death of 63-year-old Roy, a compatriot in the state Assembly, as unfortunate. “On receipt of post mortem and on primary-investigation, West Bengal Police has reported that it is a case of suspected suicide and could be related to some local money transfer activities. The note found in a pocket of the deceased also names two persons who are allegedly found to be related to such money transfer activities in the locality. Therefore, I am sorry to say that it does not appear to be a political case as being projected by the BJP,” read the letter.
The interaction is said to have lasted for 25 minutes. TMC is trying to be transparent, in a bid to rule out the political vendetta angle which is being projected by the BJP, more so ahead of the 2021 Assembly elections. The TMC wants to appear confident and not scared, portraying no reason to worry.
The BJP, on the other hand, wants to gain maximum political mileage, with Vijaywargiya stressing on the breakdown of law and order in the state and saffron party workers facing violence from TMC supporters in recent years under Mamata’s leadership.
The post mortem report mentions that Roy was alive before hanging and apart from a ligature mark on his neck, there are no other external injuries. This appears to be the safety valve for the TMC, to indicate the incident is a suicide and not murder. The suicide note and two photographs with mobile number found in Roy’s pocket too substantiate TMC’s claims, at least for now.
Meanwhile, the CID has arrested a person named Niloy Singha in the case. No further details have been revealed about the connection and possible motive behind Roy found hanging near a mobile shop in Jindal village on Monday morning.
